do not sufficiently attend to the instruments, on dropping the voice into a degree of softness, frequently sing too flat; and, on the contrary, upon bursting into a forte, they become too sharp-upon the same principle as blowing with great force into a wind instrument renders the notes sharper.* In either case the ear is not in fault; it is the singer, who neglects to use his ears upon such occasions. Persons accustomed to sing on a stage, are liable to sing flatter in a concert-room. This arises from the circumstance, that the sounds from an orchestra at the back of us, come upon the ear with a more obtuse and dead effect, than those in front; which may be accounted for by the shape of the external ear, which is ill adapted very nicely to appreciate sounds behind us.

Prima donnas often augment these ill effects, by wearing articles of dress that cover their ears. When fashion interposes these muffles, a depression of voice is an inevitable consequence.

The inanimate posture of the theatrical singer in a concert-room, often proves another cause for the depression of the voice. How can the exuberant sallies of a bravura be executed in the still life of a lady standing, with downcast look, by the side of the piano-forte? Such music must ever be performed with an unmeaning effect. There wants

* A similar effect takes place on the violin; some persons by their vigor of play in loud passages, press their fingers down with greater force upon the string, by which the ends of the fingers are extended, and the consequence is, the notes are sharpened.

the action and bustle of the stage, as a stimulus to the voice, to keep it up with vigor.

Words operate powerfully in distorting the voice. When a broad and open vowel, like the word all, comes upon any one of the harmonic tones, the throat is widened too much for the right production of the sound; and, without due care, the note will be made too flat. The same tone being connected with a more slender word, would run no risk of being sung out of tune. So the syllables used in solfaing, pronounced mee and see, assist the voice in making those notes sufficiently sharp.

A depression of spirits will cause a considerable laxity of the vocal organs, consequently a flattening of the voice. Mr. Bartleman, who never sung a note out of tune, once, in the presence of the writer, struggled through a song with much pain and difficulty, obviously from this cause; but such was the close attention and severity of his ear, that he resorted to every method of keeping up his voicesuch as turning his head, or twisting it a little on one side (which had the effect of narrowing the throat) the poking out of the chin-indeed any expedient rather than deviate from an accurate intonation.

To correct these evils, which beset the voice and perplex the singer, the first thing is, to listen, and compare attentively, the tone we are making with that of the instruments. Besides the intervals, upon which we have cautioned the singer, we may

mention the 7th, or half note below the key, which forms the major 3d to the dominant.* In ascending, this interval should be made as sharp as possible; and, in descending, it should be drawn so close to the tonic, as to partake of a whining or crying tone. To effect this, the singer must have recourse to the pinching of the voice, which is readily done by contracting the aperture of the throat; by this means any note may be brought

into tune.

CHAPTER XIX.

PSALMODY.

MARTIN LUTHER, about the year 1517, first introduced metrical psalmody into the service of the

* The dominant is always the fifth note above the key note. †The sounds of the human voice are formed in the larynx, which is situated immediately above the windpipe; and the notes of the musical scale are produced by the combined action of the muscles upon certain membranes in the interior of the larynx, which form an aperture called the rima glottidis. In the higher notes of the scale, this aperture is proportionably contracted, and in the deeper intonation, the membranes are relaxed, and the aperture enlarged. The office of the glottis in singing, is the same with that of the reed in a wind instrument; and the muscles are made to act upon it with such precision and agility, that it surpasses the most expressive instruments in rapidity and neatness of execution.

church, which not only kept alive the enthusiasm of the reformers, but formed a rallying point for his followers. This practice spread in all directions; and it was not long ere six thousand persons were heard singing together at Paul's Cross in London. Luther was a poet and musician: but the same talent existed not in his followers. Thirty years afterwards, Sternhold versified fifty-one of the psalms; and in 1562, with the help of Hopkins, he completed the psalter. These poetical effusions were chiefly sung to German melodies,* which the good taste of Luther supplied: but the Puritans, in a subsequent age, nearly destroyed these germs of melody, assigning as a reason, that music should be so simplified as to suit all persons, and that all voices may join.

As a specimen of puritanical gaiety, we copy the following strain from Dr. Burney.

*These ancient airs, so expressive of religious solemnity, were 'originally applied in the French court to licentious songs, and the 'hundredth psalm, written long before Luther's time, was a love ditty. 'The Queen of Henry II. sung her favorite psalm, " Rebuke me not in thy indignation," to a fashionable jig; and Anthony, King of Navarre, 'sung "Stand up, O Lord, to revenge my quarrel," to the air of a 'dance of Poitou. This infectious frenzy of psalin singing at length 'reached our island, and Sternhold, an enthusiast in the reformation, 'being much offended at the lascivious ballads which prevailed among 'the courtiers, with a laudable design to check these indecencies, pro'vided the courtiers with his psalms, "thinking thereby," says Anthony "Wood, "that they would sing them instead of these sonnets; but they "did not." At one time, such was the rage, that psalms were sung 'by soldiers on march and parade, and at lord mayors' dinners, and 'city feasts.'

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Since this time, psalmody has ever proved a bond of union among Christians; yet as it forms no part of the established church, it has received but little improvement from our able church professors, and its progress has been left in the hands of illiterate musicians.

As the service of the church can only be performed in cathedrals, where there is an efficient choir, sacred music must be altogether excluded in the parish church, unless it be introduced in the way of psalmody. But no good psalmody can possibly take place, till the doggrel lines of Sternhold and Hopkins are removed, and something like poetry placed in their stead.* Dissenters have greatly surpassed the church divines in furnishing poems for this part of our worship. The psalms as translated by Watts, Cowper, and Mrs. Steel, are

* Besides that disagreeable hissing which takes place in our psalmody before alluded to, it has been remarked, that when the clerk gives out the psalm, a general fit of coughing takes place, as a clearing up previous to holding forth. In a French church, a general blowing of the nose is the first operation to clear away the snuff, that being the organ through which they commonly chant. Larriveè, one of their principal singers, was remarkable for this horrid defect. A wag who heard him for the first time, exclaimed, ' Voila un nez qui a une belle voix ;' (that nose has a fine voice.)